High-voltage transistor device with thick gate insulation layers

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided including the steps of providing a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulation layer formed on the semiconductor bulk substrate and a semiconductor layer positioned on the buried insulation layer, and forming a first transistor device, wherein forming the first transistor device includes forming a channel region in the semiconductor bulk substrate and forming a gate insulation layer over the channel region partially of a part of the buried insulation layer and wherein forming the gate insulation layer includes oxidizing a part of the semiconductor layer.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

Generally, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to integratedcircuits, and, more particularly, to transistor devices comprising thickgate insulation layers (such as oxide layers) allowing for a relativelyhigh-voltage operation.

2. Description of the Related Art

Integrated circuits formed on semiconductor wafers typically include alarge number of circuit elements, which form an electric circuit. Inaddition to active devices such as, for example, field effecttransistors and/or bipolar transistors, integrated circuits may includepassive devices such as resistors, inductors and/or capacitors. Inparticular, during the fabrication of complex integrated circuits usingCMOS technology, millions of transistors, i.e., N-channel transistorsand P-channel transistors, are formed on a substrate including acrystalline semiconductor layer.

A MOS transistor, for example, irrespective of whether an N-channeltransistor or a P-channel transistor is considered, comprises so-calledPN junctions that are formed by an interface of highly doped drain andsource regions with an inversely or weakly doped channel region disposedbetween the drain region and the source region. The conductivity of thechannel region, i.e., the drive current capability of the conductivechannel, is controlled by a gate electrode formed near the channelregion and separated therefrom by a thin gate insulating layer. Theconductivity of the channel region, upon formation of a conductivechannel due to the application of an appropriate control voltage to thegate electrode, depends on, among other things, the dopantconcentration, the mobility of the majority charge carriers and, for agiven extension of the channel region in the transistor width direction,the distance between the source and drain regions, which is alsoreferred to as channel length. Hence, in combination with the capabilityof rapidly creating a conductive channel below the insulating layer uponapplication of the control voltage to the gate electrode, the overallconductivity of the channel region substantially determines theperformance of the MOS transistors.

For rectifying and/or switching applications, high-voltage transistorsare needed. Particularly, there is an increasing demand in semiconductormanufacturing to integrate high-voltage devices with high-performance(e.g., low voltage, high speed) devices and high-yield conventional bulktransistor devices for system on chip applications. Such integrateddevices are useful in, for example, analog and mixed signalapplications.

However, in practice, integrating high-voltage and high-performancedevices (Fully Depleted) SOI FETs (Semiconductor-on-Insulator FieldEffect Transistors) has proven problematic due in part to thedifferences in dimensional scaling of the respective devices. Involvedpatterning procedures are needed that significantly increase the overallmanufacturing complexity. In addition, due to present constraints causedby the gate insulation layer (e.g., oxide materials) processes in usetoday, there are significant processing challenges to having gateinsulation layers (e.g., oxide materials) on the same die that supportboth high-performance low-voltage transistor devices and high-voltagetransistor devices that operate at voltages that may exceed 5 or 10 V.This is due in part to the fact that a gate insulation layer on aparticular die is typically optimized for either a high-performancedevice or a high-voltage device, but not for both at the same time.Moreover, in the art, relatively thicker gate insulation layers ofhigh-voltage transistor devices have to be formed in the course of gatepatterning of other low-voltage FETs, which significantly complicatesthe overall patterning process.

In view of the above, there is need for techniques of manufacturinghigh-voltage FETs, in particular, integrated in the process flow of themanufacture of high-yield low-voltage FETs and possibly (FD)SOI FETs.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in orderto provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is discussed later.

Generally the subject matter disclosed herein relates to semiconductordevices and methods for fabricating the same, wherein a high-voltage FETis formed, in particular, within a process flow of forming a low-voltagebulk transistor device and/or an (FD) SOI FET comprising a channelformed in a thin semiconductor layer. The high-voltage FET may allow foran operation voltage of more than 10 V, in particular, more than 15 V,due to a thick gate insulation or gate dielectric layer (e.g., oxide)provided.

A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided including thesteps of providing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substratecomprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulation layer(e.g., a buried oxide layer) formed on the semiconductor bulk substrateand a semiconductor layer (i.e., active layer) positioned on the buriedinsulation layer, forming a first (high-voltage) transistor device,wherein forming the first transistor device comprises forming a channelregion in the semiconductor bulk substrate and forming a gate insulationlayer (i.e., a gate dielectric layer) over the channel region partiallyof a part of the buried insulation layer. The method of forming the gateinsulation layer includes oxidizing a part of the semiconductor layer.Moreover, an additional insulation layer (e.g., an oxide layer) may beformed on the oxidized part of the semiconductor layer in order tofurther increase the thickness of the resulting gate insulation layer ofthe high-voltage transistor device. The method can be integrated in aprocess flow of forming another transistor device comprising arelatively thin gate insulation layer that does not comprise a part ofthe buried insulation layer and does not comprise an oxidized part ofthe semiconductor layer.

Furthermore, a method of forming a semiconductor device is providedincluding the steps of providing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI)substrate comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulationlayer formed on the semiconductor bulk substrate and a semiconductorlayer positioned on the buried insulation layer, forming a first(high-voltage) transistor device including forming a first channelregion in the semiconductor bulk substrate, forming first raised sourceand drain regions on the semiconductor bulk substrate, oxidizing a partof the semiconductor layer, and forming a first gate insulation layer onthe first channel region at least from (a) a part of the buriedinsulation layer, (b) the oxidized part of the semiconductor layer and(c) a first gate insulator formed over the oxidized part of thesemiconductor layer by depositing and patterning a gate insulationlayer, and forming a second transistor device including forming a secondchannel region in one of the semiconductor bulk substrate and thesemiconductor layer, forming second raised source and drain regions onthe one of the semiconductor bulk substrate and the semiconductor layerand forming a second gate insulation layer on the second channel regionfrom the patterned gate insulation layer. The second transistor devicemay be a low-voltage bulk transistor device having a channel regionformed in the semiconductor bulk substrate or a partially or fullydepleted SOI transistor device having a channel region formed in thesemiconductor layer and the second transistor device may be formedwithin the same process flow of forming the first transistor device.

A semiconductor device is provided including asemiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a semiconductorbulk substrate, a buried insulation layer formed on the semiconductorbulk substrate and a semiconductor layer positioned on the buriedinsulation layer, and a first (high-voltage) transistor device, whereinthe first transistor device includes a first channel region formed inthe semiconductor bulk substrate and a first gate insulation layerformed over the first channel region and at least partially of a part ofthe buried insulation layer and an oxidized part of the semiconductorlayer.

Furthermore, a semiconductor device is provided including asemiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a semiconductorbulk substrate, a buried insulation layer formed on the semiconductorbulk substrate and a semiconductor layer positioned on the buriedinsulation layer, and a first (high-voltage) transistor device and asecond transistor device (in particular, both formed in and on the SOIsubstrate), wherein the first transistor device includes a first channelregion formed in the semiconductor bulk substrate, first raised sourceand drain regions formed on the semiconductor bulk substrate, and afirst gate insulation layer formed on the first channel region at leastfrom a part of the buried insulation layer and an oxidized part of thesemiconductor layer, and the second transistor device includes a secondchannel region formed in one of the semiconductor bulk substrate and thesemiconductor layer, second raised source and drain regions formed onthe one of the semiconductor bulk substrate and the semiconductor layerand a second gate insulation layer formed on the second channel regionfrom the patterned gate insulation layer. A third transistor deviceincluding a third channel region formed in the other one of thesemiconductor bulk substrate and the semiconductor layer, third raisedsource and drain regions formed on the other one of the semiconductorbulk substrate and the semiconductor layer and a third gate dielectriclayer formed on the third channel region may also be formed in and onthe same SOI substrate. In any case, the first gate dielectric layer ofthe first (high-voltage) transistor device may include another oxidelayer formed on the oxidized part of the semiconductor layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIGS. 1a-1l illustrate a process of forming a semiconductor devicecomprising a high-voltage transistor device with a relatively thickergate insulation layer and a low-voltage bulk transistor device on an SOIsubstrate, according to an illustrative example of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a semiconductor device comprising a high-voltagetransistor device with a relatively thicker gate insulation layer, alow-voltage bulk transistor device and an SOI transistor device,according to another illustrative example of the present disclosure.

While the subject matter disclosed herein is susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof havebeen shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein ofspecific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to theparticular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below.In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementationare described in this specification. It will of course be appreciatedthat in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerousimplementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedevelopers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effortmight be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routineundertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure.

The following embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to make use of the invention. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments would be evident, based on the presentdisclosure, and that system, structure, process or mechanical changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.In the following description, numeral-specific details are given toprovide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it would beapparent that the embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced withoutthe specific details. In order to avoid obscuring the presentdisclosure, some well-known circuits, system configurations, structureconfigurations and process steps are not disclosed in detail.

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to theattached figures. Various structures, systems and devices areschematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation onlyand so as to not obscure the present disclosure with details which arewell known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attacheddrawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples ofthe present disclosure. The words and phrases used herein should beunderstood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with theunderstanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in therelevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., adefinition that is different from the ordinary or customary meaning asunderstood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied byconsistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a termor phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning otherthan that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definitionshall be expressively set forth in the specification in a definitionalmanner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definitionfor the term or phrase.

Generally, manufacturing techniques and semiconductor devices in whichN-channel transistors and/or P-channel transistors and memory cells maybe formed are described herein. The manufacturing techniques may beintegrated in CMOS manufacturing processes. As will be readily apparentto those skilled in the art upon a complete reading of the presentapplication, the present method is applicable to a variety oftechnologies, for example, NMOS, PMOS, CMOS, etc., and is readilyapplicable to a variety of devices, including, but not limited to, logicdevices, memory devices, SRAM devices etc., in principle. The techniquesand technologies described herein may be utilized to fabricate MOSintegrated circuit devices, including NMOS integrated circuit devices,PMOS integrated circuit devices and CMOS integrated circuit devices.Although the term “MOS” properly refers to a device having a metal gateelectrode and an oxide gate insulator, that term is used throughout torefer to any semiconductor device that includes a conductive gateelectrode (whether metal or other conductive material) that ispositioned over a gate insulator (whether oxide or other insulator)which, in turn, is positioned over a semiconductor (SOI) substrate.

The disclosure generally relates to a field effect transistor (FET) witha relatively thicker gate insulation layer that is formed using a buriedinsulation layer of an SOI wafer and additional insulating material,with the silicon layer above the buried insulation layer being dopedheavily as a gate. More specifically, according to aspects of theinvention, a high-voltage device that allows applying relatively highvoltages, for example, voltages of some 10 V, particularly, more than 15V, to the gate electrode of the transistor device is formed in athin-silicon SOI wafer by using the buried insulation layer (e.g., aburied oxide layer) and additional insulating material (e.g., oxidematerial) as the gate insulation layer of the high-voltage device. Inthis manner, a high-voltage transistor device, a conventional high-yieldlow-voltage bulk transistor device, for example, operating at a voltageof below 2 V, and, possibly, an additional high-performance SOItransistor device may be formed on the same SOI wafer. The high-voltageFET can be a single gate, extended gate or zero gate transistor device,for example. With reference to FIGS. 1a-1l and 2, illustrativeembodiments will now be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 1a , a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate isprovided comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate 1, a buriedinsulation (e.g., oxide) (BOX) layer 2 and a semiconductor or activelayer 3. The semiconductor layer 3 may comprise a significant amount ofsilicon due to the fact that semiconductor devices of high integrationdensity may be formed in volume production on the basis of silicon dueto the enhanced availability and the well-established process techniquesdeveloped over the last decades. However, any other appropriatesemiconductor materials may be used, for instance, a silicon-basedmaterial containing other iso-electronic components, such as germanium,carbon, silicon/germanium, silicon/carbon, other II-VI or III-Vsemiconductor compounds and the like. The semiconductor layer 3 maysuitably be doped for forming a channel region of a P-channel orN-channel transistor. In FDSOI applications, the semiconductor layer 3may not be doped.

The BOX layer 2 may comprise silicon (di)oxide, for example,borosilicate glass. The BOX layer 2 may be composed of different layersand one of the different layers may comprise borophosphosilicate glass(BPSG) or an SiO₂-compound comprising boron. The semiconductor bulksubstrate 1 may be a silicon substrate, in particular, a single crystalsilicon substrate. Other materials may be used to form the semiconductorbulk substrate 1, such as, for example, germanium, silicon germanium,gallium phosphate, gallium arsenide, etc. The thickness of thesemiconductor layer 3 may be in the range of 5-30 nm, in particular,5-15 nm, and the thickness of the BOX layer 2 may be in the range of10-50 nm, in particular, 10-30 nm and, more particularly, 15-25 nm.

An area A and an area B may be defined in the SOI substrate. The areas Aand B are separated from each other by an insulation region 4, forexample, a shallow trench isolation (STI) region. The STI region 4 maybe formed by etching a trench in the semiconductor bulk substrate 1 andfilling the trench by some insulating material, for example, some oxidematerial. The oxide material may be a high-density plasma oxide. Priorto filling the trench with the insulating material, a liner made of anoxide or silicon nitride material may be formed at sidewalls of thetrench to facilitate gap-free filling. In the area A, a high-voltagetransistor device will be formed and, in the area B, a bulk transistordevice that is not suitable for high-voltage operation with a voltageapplied to the gate of, for example, more than 2 or 4 V, will be formed,both with a channel region formed in the semiconductor bulk substrate 1.Actually, the operating voltage depends on the particular choice of thegate insulation layer. For example, in a single-gate configuration, anoperating voltage of about 0.5-0.7 V, in an extended-gate configuration,an operating voltage of about 1.5-2.0 V, and in a z-gate configuration,an operating voltage of about 2.5-3.5 may be chosen for the bulktransistor device formed in the area B.

A mask layer 5 is formed above the SOI substrate, i.e., above thesemiconductor layer 3, and patterned in order to form a high-voltagetransistor device comprising a relatively thicker gate insulation layer.The mask layer 5 may comprise a nitride material and it may be patternedby means of standard lithography techniques. FIG. 1b shows theconfiguration after etching the semiconductor layer 3 and the BOX layer2 using the mask layer 5 as an etching mask. In the area B, thesemiconductor layer 3 and the BOX layer 2 are removed for the formationof a conventional bulk transistor device. Note that, in the processingstage shown in FIG. 1b , the mask layer 5 is already removed.

As shown in FIG. 1c , a nitride layer 6, for example, a silicon nitridelayer 6 is formed over the structure shown in FIG. 1b . After formationof the nitride layer 6, another mask layer 7 is formed, for example, ofan appropriate oxide material, and patterned by lithography. The masklayer 7 is used as an etching mask in an etching process performed inorder to remove the nitride layer 6 from the semiconductor layer 3 inthe area A.

Oxidation of the semiconductor layer 3 exposed in the area A isperformed in order to form a relatively thick gate insulation layer.During the oxidation process, the exposed semiconductor layer 3 issubstantially completely consumed. The thickness of the resultingregrown raised oxide region 3 a, for example, a silicon oxide region, isabout 2 times the volume of the semiconductor layer 3. Additionalinsulation material (e.g., oxide) may be deposited on the regrown oxideif desired. The resulting structure after removal of the mask layer 7and the oxidation regrowth is illustrated in FIG. 1d . The raised oxideregion 3 a may have a thickness in the range of about 25-60 nm or evenmore if desired. Different from the art, the thickness of thehigh-voltage transistor device formed in the area A is not limited tothe thickness of the BOX layer 2 of the SOI substrate.

Next, the horizontal portions of the nitride layer 6 are removed fromthe surface of the semiconductor layer in the area A and an implantationmask 8 is formed over areas A and B. Using the implantation mask 8,lightly-doped source/drain regions 9 and halo regions 10 are formed inthe area A (see FIG. 1e ). A dose concentration in the lightly-dopedsource/drain regions 9 and halo regions 10 in the range of 10¹⁰ to 10¹⁴cm⁻² may be chosen. Boron, boron fluoride or indium may be chosen forforming p⁺ implanted lightly-doped source/drain regions 9 and haloregions 10 in the semiconductor bulk substrate 1 in the area A.

Next, gate stacks are formed in the areas A and B. As shown in FIG. 1f ,a thin gate dielectric layer 11 is formed on the exposed surfaces of thestructure shown in FIG. 1e . In particular, the gate insulation layer 11is formed on free surfaces of the raised oxide region 3 a in the area Aand the exposed semiconductor layer 3 in the area B. The gate insulationlayer 11 may have thickness of 2-5 nm, for example. The gate insulationlayer 11 may be a high-k material layer with a dielectric constant k ofmore than 5, for example. This high-k material layer may comprisedielectric materials such as hafnium oxide (HfO₂), hafnium silicon oxide(HfSiO), tantalum oxide (Ta₂Os), strontium titanium oxide (SrTiO₃),zirconium oxide (ZrO₂), etc. Alternatively, the gate insulation layer 11may be formed of silicon oxide.

On the gate dielectric layer 11, a gate layer 12 is formed. The gatelayer 12 may comprise a metal-containing layer. The metal-containing(metal gate) layer of the gate layer 12 may comprise at least one oftitanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN), tantalum (Ta), tungsten(W), for example. The metal-containing layer 12 may be relatively thinwith a thickness below 50 nm, in particular, below 30 nm. The gate layer12 may comprise or consist of an amorphous silicon or polysiliconmaterial. A work function adjusting layer may be formed between the gatedielectric layer 11 and the gate layer 12. For example, the workfunction adjusting layer may comprise a metal-containing material thatis provided in the form of a titanium nitride material or an aluminumoxide layer and the work function adjusting layer may additionallycomprise a lanthanum species.

For example, after depositing the metal-containing layer, asemiconductor layer may be formed onto the metal-containing layer. Insome embodiments, the semiconductor layer may conveniently comprisesilicon. According to a particular embodiment, the semiconductor layercomprises doped polycrystalline silicon in order to form a high-kmetal-poly-gate. After the formation of the gate layer 12, a cap layer13 is formed. The cap layer 13 may comprise or consist of a nitridematerial. Gate structures result from conventional gate patterning ofthe gate dielectric layer 11, the gate layer 12 and the cap layer 13, asillustrated in FIG. 1g . The gate length may be smaller than the lengthdefined by the originally patterned BOX layer 2.

In the processing step shown in FIG. 1h , sidewall spacers 110 and 130are formed on the sidewalls of the gate stacks in the areas A and B andraised source and drain regions 120 and 140 are also formed. Thesidewall spacers 110 and 130 may be made of an oxide or nitridematerial, after masking the relevant areas, for example. The raisedsource and drain regions 120 and 140 are formed, for example, byepitaxially growing a semiconductor material on the lightly doped sourceand drain regions 9 in the area A and on the exposed semiconductor layer3 in the area B, respectively. The grown semiconductor material that,for example, comprises silicon or silicon germanium, is properly doped,for example, by ion implantation or by in situ doping. For example, theraised source and drain regions 120 in the area A comprise n⁺ dopants toprovide for an N-channel FET. Phosphorous or arsenic may be used in theion implantation process or the in situ doping process. The cap layer 13protects the gate layers 12 of the gate stacks in the areas A and Bduring the process of forming the raised source and drain regions 120and 140.

Next, the cap layer 13 is removed to expose the gate layers 12, asillustrated in FIG. 1i . During this process, horizontal portions of thesidewall spacer 110 that are formed on the semiconductor bulk substrate1 may also be removed to expose portions of the lightly dopedsource/drain regions 9 in the area A.

As shown in FIG. 1j , a silicidation process may be formed to obtainsilicided source and drain regions 160 and 180 and silicided gates 150and 170 of low electrical resistance. The silicide regions 150, 160, 170and 180 may comprise nickel silicide, nickel/platinum silicide or cobaltsilicide and the like.

In order to enhance the carrier mobility in the channel regions, astrained material layer 190 (depending on the kind of transistorformed—P-channel or N-channel) may be formed over the structure shown inFIG. 1j . The resulting structure is illustrated in FIG. 1k . In thedescribed embodiment, the high-voltage FET formed in the area A is anN-channel FET. If an N-channel FET is formed in the area B, the sametensile material layer 190 may be formed over the entire structure shownin FIG. 1 j.

In the processing stage shown in FIG. 1l , an interlayer dielectric(ILD) 200 is formed and contacts 210, 230 to the silicided gates 150,170 and contacts 220 to the source and drain regions 160 in the area Aand contacts 240 to the source and drain regions 180 in the area B areformed in the ILD 200 and through the strained material layer 190.

The ILD 200 may include a deposited silicon oxide, silicon nitride orsilicon oxynitride, or another material suitable for providingelectrical isolation between semiconductor devices. The ILD layer 200may be blanket-deposited using, for example, plasma enhanced chemicalvapor deposition (PECVD), a low pressure chemical vapor deposition(LPCVD), or a CVD process. In one example, the ILD 200 includes asilicon oxide material and has a thickness of about 30 nm to about 1micron, for example a thickness of about 60-500 nm. In particular, theILD 200 may consist of or comprise an ultra-low-k (ULK) material with adielectric constant k<2.8 or k of at most 2.4. The formation of thecontacts 210, 220, 230 and 240 can be achieved by forming vias in theILD 200 and filling the same with some contact material, for example,aluminum or tungsten.

As a result, a high-voltage transistor device, for example, allowingvoltages of at least more than 10 V or 15 V applied to the gate, isformed in the area A, and a conventional low-voltage bulk transistordevice is formed in the area B. It should be noted that, compared toFETs of the art that use a BOX layer as a gate insulation layer, highoperation voltages, in principle, are allowed for the herein disclosedhigh-voltage transistor devices due to the increased thickness of thegate insulation layer (e.g., oxide) caused by the additional oxidationprocess described above and possibly another insulation layer that maybe formed on the oxidized part of the semiconductor layer.

Besides integration of the manufacturing of a high-voltage transistordevice in the process flow of manufacturing a bulk transistor devicehaving a channel formed in a semiconductor bulk substrate and suitablefor operation at voltages of 2 V, for example, herein, integration ofthe manufacturing of a high-voltage transistor device in the processflow of manufacturing an SOI transistor device, in particular, apartially depleted or fully depleted (FDSOI) transistor device isdisclosed. For example, an (FD)SOI transistor device, a low-voltage (forexample, with an operation voltage below 2 V) bulk transistor device anda high-voltage transistor device with a thick gate oxide can be formedwithin the same process flow. Integrated manufacturing can be performedwithout the need for additional complex patterning procedures. Theresulting semiconductor device is shown in FIG. 2. As described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1a-1l , in an area A of an SOI substrate, ahigh-voltage transistor device 300 with a thick gate oxide 3 a is formedand, in an area B, a low-voltage bulk transistor device 400 is formed.The SOI substrate may be the same as described above and thehigh-voltage transistor device 300 and the bulk transistor device 400may be the same as described above. Additionally, an SOI FET, forexample, an FDSOI FET 500 is formed in an area C of the SOI substrate.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the channel region of thelow-voltage bulk transistor device 400 is formed in the semiconductorbulk substrate 1. The channel region of the high-voltage transistordevice 300 having the thick gate oxide 3 a is also formed in thesemiconductor bulk substrate 1 of the SOI substrate. The semiconductorbulk substrate 1 is suitably doped in the areas A and B in order toprovide the channel regions of the high-voltage transistor device 300and the low-voltage bulk transistor device 400. Both transistor devices300 and 400 have raised source and drain regions and may have gateelectrodes formed of the same material and/or of the same material layerwithin the same patterning process.

The SOI FET 500 is formed above the BOX layer 2 of the SOI substrate.The channel region of the SOI FET 500 is formed in the suitably dopedsemiconductor layer 3 of the SOI substrate. The SOI FET 500 comprises asilicided gate 510, silicided source and drain regions 520, sidewallspacers 530 and a gate insulation layer 540. Contacts 560 and 570 to thesilicided gate 510 and the source and drain regions 520, respectively,are formed in the ILD 200. The gate dielectric 540 may be a thin oxidelayer, for example, comprising SiO₂, HfO₂, HfSiO₄, or the like. Further,the SOI FET 500 comprises, depending on the charged carrier species ofthe channel, a tensile or compressive material layer 550 that may beformed by depositing tensile or compressive plasma enhanced nitride(TPEN or CPEN) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).The individual layers of the SOI FET 500 can be formed in the sameprocessing steps as the formation of the respective layers of thehigh-voltage transistor device 300 and the bulk transistor device 400.In particular, the shown three FETs may comprise gates made of the samematerial. The gates may comprise metal and (poly)silicon layers.

It is, furthermore, noted that the lower surface of the gate of thehigh-voltage transistor device 300 is positioned higher than the lowersurfaces of the gates of the FETs 400 and 500 (see FIG. 2). For example,the lower surface of the gate of the high-voltage transistor device 300may be positioned about 5-35 nm higher than the one on the SOI FET 500.In the example shown in FIG. 2, the thickness of the raised gate oxide 3a of the high-voltage transistor device 300 may lie in the range of30-60 nm or even more. In particular, different from the art, thethickness of the high-voltage transistor device 300 is not limited tothe thickness of the BOX layer 2 of the SOI substrate.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as theinvention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalentmanners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings herein. For example, the process steps set forth above may beperformed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are intendedto the details of construction or design herein shown, other than asdescribed in the claims below. It is therefore evident that theparticular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified andall such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of theinvention. Note that the use of terms, such as “first,” “second,”“third” or “fourth” to describe various processes or structures in thisspecification and in the attached claims is only used as a short-handreference to such steps/structures and does not necessarily imply thatsuch steps/structures are performed/formed in that ordered sequence. Ofcourse, depending upon the exact claim language, an ordered sequence ofsuch processes may or may not be required. Accordingly, the protectionsought herein is as set forth in the claims below.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of forming a semiconductor device,comprising the steps of: providing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI)substrate comprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulationlayer formed on said semiconductor bulk substrate and a semiconductorlayer positioned on said buried insulation layer; and forming a firsttransistor device comprising forming a channel region in saidsemiconductor bulk substrate and forming a gate insulation layer oversaid channel region partially of a part of said buried insulation layer,and wherein forming said gate insulation layer comprises oxidizing apart of said semiconductor layer.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinforming said gate insulation layer further comprises forming anotherinsulation layer on said oxidized part of said semiconductor layer. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein forming said first transistor devicefurther comprises forming a gate electrode over said gate insulationlayer by depositing a gate layer over said oxidized part of saidsemiconductor layer and patterning said deposited gate layer.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein forming said first transistor device furthercomprises forming raised source and drain regions over saidsemiconductor bulk substrate.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein saidgate insulation layer has a thickness of more than 20 nm.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein forming said first transistor device furthercomprises forming a mask layer over said oxidized part of saidsemiconductor layer and implanting ions in said semiconductor bulksubstrate to form lightly doped drain/source regions and halo regions insaid semiconductor bulk substrate using said mask layer as animplantation mask.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising forminga second transistor device on the same SOI substrate as said firsttransistor device, and wherein forming said first transistor devicecomprises forming a first gate over said gate insulation layer andforming said second transistor device comprises forming a second gateand wherein forming said first and second gates comprises depositing agate layer over said semiconductor bulk substrate and patterning saidgate layer.
 8. A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprisingthe steps of: providing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substratecomprising a semiconductor bulk substrate, a buried insulation layerformed on said semiconductor bulk substrate and a semiconductor layerpositioned on said buried insulation layer; forming a first transistordevice comprising: forming a first channel region in said semiconductorbulk substrate, forming first raised source and drain regions on saidsemiconductor bulk substrate, oxidizing a part of said semiconductorlayer, and forming a first gate insulation layer on said first channelregion at least from (1) a part of said buried insulation layer, (2)said oxidized part of said semiconductor layer and (3) a first gateinsulator formed over said oxidized part of said semiconductor layer bydepositing and patterning a gate insulation layer; and forming a secondtransistor device comprising: forming a second channel region in one ofsaid semiconductor bulk substrate and said semiconductor layer, formingsecond raised source and drain regions on said one of said semiconductorbulk substrate and said semiconductor layer and forming a second gateinsulation layer on said second channel region from said patterned gateinsulation layer.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein forming said firstgate insulation layer comprises forming another insulation layer on saidoxidized part of said semiconductor layer.
 10. The method of claim 8,further comprising forming a third transistor device comprising: forminga third channel region in the other one of said semiconductor bulksubstrate and said semiconductor layer, forming third raised source anddrain regions on said other one of said semiconductor bulk substrate andsaid semiconductor layer and forming a third gate insulation layer onsaid third channel region from said patterned gate insulation layer. 11.The method of claim 10, further comprising forming a first gateelectrode on said first gate insulation layer comprising depositing andpatterning a gate layer, forming a second gate electrode on said secondgate insulation layer at least partially from said patterned gate layerand forming a third gate electrode on said third gate insulation layerat least partially from said patterned gate layer.
 12. The method ofclaim 8, wherein forming said first transistor device further comprisesforming a mask layer over said oxidized part of said semiconductor layerand implanting ions in said semiconductor bulk substrate to form lightlydoped drain/source regions and halo regions in said semiconductor bulksubstrate using said mask layer as an implantation mask.